2-Ethyl-1-hexanol has extensive industrial applications in solvent extraction, however, in view of its potential pollution to environment, the removal and recovery of 2-ethyl-1-hexanol is considered an essential step toward its sustainable use in the future. In this work, we report the removal of 2-ethyl-1-hexanol from aqueous solutions containing salts in high concentrations by adsorption on a coal-based activated carbon. Adsorption thermodynamics showed that the experimental isotherms were conformed well to the Langmuir equation. Also it was found that inorganic salts, i.e. MgCl2 and CaCl2 in high concentration significantly enhanced the adsorption capacity from 223 mg/g in the deionized water to 277 mg/g in a saline water. This phenomenon of adsorption enhancement could be ascribed to the salt-out effect. Kinetic analysis indicated that adsorption kinetics follows the pseudo-second-order equation and the adsorption rate constants increase with the salt concentration. The dynamic breakthrough volume and adsorbed amount of 2-ethyl-1-hexanol were significantly elevated when the salt is present in the water. The dynamic saturated adsorption amount increased from 218.3 mg/g in the deionized water to 309.5 mg/g in a salt lake brine. The Tomas model was well applied to predict the breakthrough curves and determine the characteristics parameters of the adsorption column. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.